CLEVELAND >> Following the final buzzer at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse Friday night, the Detroit Pistons took a somber walk back to the visiting locker room. They had just sustained a disappointing defeat, which came amid a 113-101 loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers.

After spending the previous five years as coach of the Cavaliers, J.B. Bickerstaff looked disheartened as the loss ruined his first return to Cleveland. The Pistons’ quiet walk back to the locker room was not just about falling to their division rival, but the realization that they are 0-2 to begin the 2024-25 season.

For a team that finished the previous year with a league-low 14 wins, Detroit’s 0-2 start may not come as a surprise. They are in the middle of a grueling six-game start against teams that qualified for the postseason last year. During their first back-to-back set of the season, the Pistons returned to Little Caesars Arena to face the defending champions, the Boston Celtics, Saturday night.

“Our biggest motivation now is to keep fighting and figure out a way to get our first W and go from there,” Tobias Harris said. “That’s the motivation. That’s the goal, and that is what we have to do.”

Turnovers are a significant reason for the Pistons’ 0-2 start to the season, and they have been a recurring issue since the beginning of their rebuilding project five years ago. During the 2023-24 season, the Pistons averaged 15.2 turnovers and finished tied with the Portland Trail Blazers for the second-most in the league.

Detroit has shown signs of improvements after two games this season, but ball security has remained a detriment to the team. Against the Cavaliers, the Pistons took accountability for their struggles, revealing that many of their turnovers resulted from the team rushing or essentially not making the extra pass on time or on target.

“It was all on us,” Jaden Ivey — who recorded 22 points, three assists, and two turnovers — said after the loss. “We have to make that shift to where we stop turning the ball over. … That’s a playoff team; they’re going to capitalize off our mistakes. We cannot have that. We have to come in tomorrow night and be better.”

In the first quarter against the Cavaliers, they committed eight giveaways and finished the game with 22. Cade Cunningham led the Pistons in the dreadful stat, accounting for nine amid a 33-point outing (14-24 FG, 2-6 3PT), and has recorded a team-high 18 turnovers through the first two games. Isaiah Stewart had the second-highest giveaways in Cleveland, with three.

Bickerstaff noted that following the loss, the Pistons must find a way to take care of the ball, comparing their turnover woes to empty possessions and more accessible scoring opportunities for their opponents. Against the Cavaliers, the Pistons conceded 33 points off turnovers.

“Turnovers leading to points on the other end, they have hurt us,” Harris said. “We got to take care of the basketball. We have to make sure we get a good look during every possession. We got to clean it up. We know this game boiled down to the turnovers for sure. … Overall, we just have to continue fighting and find different ways we can make adjustments.”